Classifying Environmental Indicators
Now that you have learned about the importance and qualities of environmental indicators, let’s try to put this knowledge into practice. In the following sample task, you will be asked to classify twelve environmental indicators according to the Pressure, State, Response (PSR) model.
Source: Environmental indicators – OECD Core Set (1994)
The PSR model shows cause-effect relationships and helps the public and decision makers see environmental, economic and other issues as interconnected.
The sample task asks you to assign an indicator for environmental pressure (called “Pressure”) with one that quantifies the environmental condition (“State”) and one that describes the level of an appropriate societal response (“Response”). This assignment is to be done for four different environmental issues.
Example Issue Climate Change
Greenhouse gas emissions are a perfect indicator for environmental Pressue because greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect which is widely agreed upon as the source of climate change. The atmospheric CO² concentration is an indicator for the State of the environment, where an increasing CO² concentration can be indicative of a worsening environmental condition. Finally, using energy from renewable resources is an indicator for a Response from society which will ideally ease the initial Pressure (greenhouse gases) on the system.
Question 1: Please, assign the environmental indicators at the bottom to their proper space in the PSR model by drag and drop.
Solution:
